Ever notice how the silliest things have the capacity to turn into discussions that just make your head spin? Case in point would be my little argument with Hannah over a Billie Holiday Christmas song, where the late great singer bellows out lines like, “The snow is snowing, the wind is blowing.”

“Why is the snow snowing?” I asked.

“That’s what snow does, Mom – it snows.”

“No the snow does not snow – it falls.”

“Mom, you are so misguided. When it snows, we don’t say ‘it’s falling’. We say it’s snowing.”

“Then why isn’t the wind winding,” I asked. “Note that even Billie admits the wind is blowing. Snow can do that, too. But I still maintain the snow doesn’t snow. Nor does rain rain.”

“Then what does rain do, Mom?”

“It falls, too. Sometimes it pours. But the rain doesn’t rain. It’s either raining or snowing. But it doesn’t rain rain or snow snow. That would require reproduction. Each flake of snow or drop of rain would have to reproduce in order for the rain to rain or the snow to snow.”

“Yes, Mom, but what about when the rain hits the windshield and splatters into several smaller droplets?”

“The snow doesn’t SNOW!” I said, knowing that any logic had long been lost thanks to Billie Holiday’s Christmas tune, where she declared that snow snows.

While I was waiting for her response, she was busy listening to the rest of the song, offering her best (and only) comeback.